- Chebet won the World Cross Country Championships
- She finished second at the World Champs
- Nicholas Kimeli leads the charge in the men’s race
Having finished second at the World Championships in Budapest, behind Faith Kipyegon in the women’s 5,000m, Beatrice Chebet will look to close down her season with a global title around her neck when she competes in the 5km race at the World Road Running Championships in Riga.
Chebet has already claimed one global gold in 2023 and after becoming the world cross country champion in Bathurst in February, and the 23-year-old now targets her second out-of-stadium title of the year.
She was second at the season-ending track outing in Eugene, the Diamond Trophy final where she finished behind Gudaf Tsegay, who broke Faith Kipyegon’s world record in the women’s 5,000m.
Chebet almost dipping underneath it too with 14:05.92 for the third-fastest performance of all time. Prior to that, Chebet claimed her second world 5000m medal, adding bronze in Budapest to the silver she secured in Oregon.
Her 5km PB of 14:32, set when winning last year’s Diamond League title on the streets of Zurich, also makes Chebet one of the quickest of all time. But in Riga, she’ll be up against the fastest.
World record holder Taye
Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye, the mixed race world record-holder who ran 14:19 in Barcelona on the final day of 2021 will lead the Ethiopian charge.
Taye is listed on the Ethiopian squad alongside Medina Eisa and Lemlem Hailu. World U20 cross country silver medallist Eisa ran 14:16.54 in London in July and has a 5km PB of 14:46 from April, while world indoor 3000m champion Hailu clocked 14:34.53 for 5000m in Paris in June and would be making her 5km debut.
For Kenya, Chebet will be joined by Lilian Kasait Rengeruk, the 2017 world cross country bronze medallist who won the 5000m at the Brussels Diamond League earlier this month and clocked a 14:23.05 PB when finishing fourth behind world record-breaker Kipyegon in Paris.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s charge in the men’s race will be led by Nicholas Kimeli, the fourth fastest 5km runner of all time.
Two other strong Kenyans
Also lining up for Team Kenya is 2022 world 10,000m silver medallist Stanley Waithaka Mburu and Cornelius Kemboi.
The men’s race will be hugely competitive, with a massive field of Ethiopian talent looking to clinch the title.
Berihu Aregawi and Yopmif Kejelcha will be leading the charge for the neighbors, keen to claim the crown.
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